Language of the People

Lake Superior University since the 1970s has taken upon itself the task establishing a committee to decide upon banishing misused, over-used and just down right irritating words. Nominations can submitted by anybody, through the website here for the 2008 list. There are no details as to where this banishment extends to, which leads me to believe the college in not setting such parameters, feels it is speaking for the English speaking world. Other than this being a bit pretentious, I feel this is an admirable cause. Every year new slang words, or unfortunate catch phrases that have somehow entered the vernacular having been coined online or through entertainment news makes its way into dictionaries.

I understand a language evolves, but this evolution should also include relegating words to the ‘what were we thinking’ pile or leaving it behind as the symptom of the time it was relevant in. There is some validity in lots of the suggestions in the 2007 list. I certainly want to get rid of the hybrid celebrity couple name thing and also people saying ‘we’re pregnant’. I am going to put a bit of thought into some suggestions. I know from this year’s election I never want to hear the word ‘squeeze’ again. Be sure to comment on terms and words you would like to see banished.